Integrated circuits are made possible by processes which produce intricately patterned material layers on substrate surfaces. Producing patterned material on a substrate requires controlled methods for removal of exposed material. The same procedure may be performed on many substrates, and process conditions and results are often held within tight tolerances. Often when components are installed in a semiconductor processing chamber, waferless process operation cycles may be performed until components are conditioned and the process itself has been stabilized to ensure that the tolerances may be maintained.
In many situations, thousands of waferless cycles and dozens if not hundreds of hours of operation time may be needed to properly condition a component. Such conditioning may increase costs due to the time and materials needed to perform such conditioning.
Thus, there is a need for improved system components that can be used in plasma environments without the need for extended conditioning. These and other needs are addressed by the present technology.